How to Create a Professional Looking Resume

Having a professional looking resume is a must if you are looking for a new job. Depending on where you live, there could be dozens of people applying for the same position, so your resume needs to stick out if you have any hopes of landing the job. To purchase high quality paper and printers to print your resume on, visit OfficeMax and Quill. You save get great deals when shopping at those merchants by using coupon codes.

Have a Clear Objective

Regardless of what type of position you are looking for, you should have an objective listed at the top of your resume. The point of the objective is to let a potential employer know what you have to offer their company. Using humor in your objective is not the best way to go. If you want to create a professional looking resume, your objective should clearly state what past experience and education you can offer an employer.

List Your Education

Don't be afraid to list your entire educational background on your resume. A professional looking resume will include any schooling that you have completed from high school through college. Employers want to know what dates you attended these schools from and what degree you earned. If you are currently in college pursuing a degree, be sure to list that on your resume. Employers love to hire people who have an interest in furthering their education. If you graduated at the top of your class or were presented with any awards while you are in school, list that under your educational background. You need to sell yourself to a potential employer through your resume.

Past Jobs

The worst thing that you can do when creating a professional looking resume is only list your last job or two. Employers are interested in hiring people that have held jobs for an extended period of time. As a general rule, you should list any jobs that you held during the past 10 to 20 years. You will need to include the dates that you worked at the job, the address for the job, and the contact information for your supervisor while you were working at that job. Of course, you should also list the job title that you held and include a brief description of what your duties were.

References

Including references is the key to creating a professional looking resume. Generally speaking, employers are not interested in personal references. Your professional looking resume should include at least 2 professional references. Examples of professional references include teachers or professors, co-workers and supervisors. Before you list a professional reference on your resume, be sure to check with the person to make sure that is okay with them. It won't be good if an employer calls a reference that you listed and that reference has no clue what the employer is talking about.